


Camping, Just Add Fun

by LadyNightingGaleofMilvania



Series: Cake [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Camping, Crowe and Nyx are great with kids, Fluff, Just stinking cute, Multi, No Beta, Slice of Life, Sprintfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-16 08:55:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18091298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyNightingGaleofMilvania/pseuds/LadyNightingGaleofMilvania
Summary: Gladio has to cancel on the camping trip the three had to watch his sister, but you don't have to go to the wilderness to have fun camping.





	Camping, Just Add Fun

“So I have a bit of a problem…” Gladio started, rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke to Crowe and Nyx on the phone.

“What’s going on?” Nyx asked, “You don’t have to do extra training again, do you?”

“No, not this time. I… ummm… Gotta watch Iris.”

In the next room Iris laughed at some kids show that he had quickly put on while he talked to the other two.

“So what’s the big deal about that?” replied Crowe, confusion clear as day.

“It means that I can’t go out today. Talcott’s sick, so my old man gave Jared the day off to take care of him and my dad has to go to an important meeting with the King until late. I’m gonna have to reschedule date night with you guys.” Gladio explained, feeling guilty the whole while.

The three had managed to get their off times approved together, rare enough since they each had to hope to get approved, and even better was that they were going to try to go camping under the stars just outside of the Wall. But Talcott getting sick threw a wrench into their plans, and he didn’t want to take Iris all the way out there when they didn’t have anything for her.

“What if we came over to the manor?” Crowe offered.

“Sounds good to me!” Nyx agreed.

Gladio stood in silence, thinking about it. While he had moved out several years prior into the Crownsguard barracks for training, his father had always made sure to make it clear that he would always be welcome back and that it would forever be Gladio’s home as well.

“Alright. But I’ll warn you, Iris can be a handful.”

“We’ll be there,” the other two said in unison before they hung up.

“You back, Gladdy?” Iris asked cheerfully, her face lighting up as he came into the room.

“Yeah, I’m back. What did I miss?”

And so Iris explained in detail everything that had happened in the less than ten minutes since he had left the room. An hour later a knock sounded and Iris looked at Gladio confused.

“Is daddy home?” she said.

“No, it’s not dad.” Gladio replied, walking to the door and opening it.

Standing there was Crowe in a pair of tight jeans and a white tank top, while Nyx was in a pair of sweats just like Gladio, except that he was wearing a plain black shirt. The two carried their camping equipment, trying to bump into as few things as possible as they made their way inside. Iris grew excited as she saw all the gear and she looked between the three.

“What are we doing?” Iris questioned.

“Yeah guys,” Gladio muttered to the other two, “what  _ are _ we doing? We can’t go out camping today.”

“Well,” Crowe began, a smirk plastered on her face to match the cocky and lopsided grin on Nyx’s, “We were gonna go camping with Gladio--”  
“But since he has to watch you we’ll go camping here!” Nyx finished.

“You can’t camp in a house.” Iris informed them seriously, looking at Nyx and Crowe.

“But you have a backyard, right?”

At this Iris began to jump up and down and clap her hands, squealing with joy.

“Does that mean you’re gonna spend the night, too!” Iris asked, her eyes glittering and wide, “Please Gladdy,  _ please _ ?”

With a great sigh Gladio relented, unable to say no to his sister. Her joyous laughter was more than enough of a reward as she grabbed Nyx and Crowe’s hands and pulled them to the backyard to set up the tent. While Iris didn’t own a sleeping bag, she had more than enough plush blankets to make up for the fact. It also helped that it was the middle of summer as well, so the temperatures wouldn’t get too cold for her. As he made his way to the backyard, Gladio could hear Iris’ chatter about everything else.

“And we can play Tea Party, and Knights, and we can do Dress Up!” she said, rattling off all her favorite activities to Crowe.

“All right!” Nyx cheered, “I love dress up! Can I be the Princess?”

“You can be Princess Hero,” Iris nodded.

Gladio couldn’t help but snort at the title, but Nyx beamed with joy.

“If we play Knights I want to be the  _ dragon _ .” Crowe said, making a large roar.

“But dragons breathe--”

Before Iris could finish the sentence Crowe summoned her magic, bringing a hand to her mouth and opening it to spray out fire like she was spewing it. Iris screamed with laughter.

“How did you  _ do _ that? You can use magic!” Iris gasped, grinning widely.

“Maybe it’s because I’m really a dragon!” Crowe roared, pretending to stomp around.

“ _ Please _ don’t burn the grass, Crowe, or my old man’ll kill me.” Gladio begged.

“You should know her better than that,” Nyx told him, already setting up the tent, “She’s the best out of all of us when it comes to fire magic.”

Iris grabbed a stick and ran after Crowe on little legs, striking a pose with her stick held out in front of her.

“I am the Knight Iris, and I’m gonna slay the dragon!” she declared.

“You shall never slay  _ me _ , little Knight Girl!” Crowe announced, blowing more fire in the air.

“No, my name is Knight Iris,” Iris told her in a loud whisper.

“Oh, sorry.” Crowe whispered loudly in apology back, “Knight Iris, I cannot be slain by one such as you!”

With that, Iris chased Crowe around the yard. When Iris tripped over her feet and landed on her face crying, Gladio stepped in.

“The dragon is too fast! You’ll have to use your horse to catch up!” Gladio yelled, scooping up Iris onto his shoulders and running at Crowe.

At this Crowe grinned wildly and took out a scrap of paper from her pocket, wadding it up and tossing it into the air to warp after. Once caught in midair, she turned quickly and breathed fire at the two, Gladio turning abruptly as Iris tugged at his hair like reigns.

“This way, horsey! We’ll catch the dragon!” she cried out, bouncing on his shoulders.

As Crowe landed Gladio and Iris had caught up with her.

“Put me down, brave horse! I must slay the dragon!” Iris commanded, waving her stick at Crowe.

As soon as Iris’ feet touched the ground she poked Crowe in the belly with her stick sword.

“OH!” Crowe cried out dramatically, grabbing the stick and holding it in place, “I have been stabbed!” at this she blew fire straight into the air, “I fear I can no longer go on!”

She fell over dramatically and Nyx snickered.

“ _ Now _ who’s the dramatic one?” he laughed.

“That was fun!” Iris yelled, flopping onto Crowe who lay still on the dirt.

“Oh yeah, Mr. Boring? You’re over there just setting up the tent instead of playing.” Crowe shot back, cracking one eye open to look at him.

“Yeah. Hey Iris, you wanna bake some cupcakes?”

“That’s cheating,” Gladio and Crowe declared to Nyx, who simply waved the comment off.

“Are we gonna make them from the box?” Iris asked warily.

“Not unless you don’t have everything we need!” Nyx replied, sticking his hands in his pockets as he waltzed inside.

And with that the two disappeared into the house as Gladio helped Crowe back to her feet.

“Your sister’s a cute kid.” she said, brushing dirt off her pants.

“Yeah, she can be pretty cute.” he agreed as they went inside. “You think you could help me get some stuff to use as a sleeping bag for her?”

Crowe shrugged, “Sure, lead the way.”

Up the stairs and down a hall and Gladio opened the door to Iris’ room, revealing light pink walls and stuffed animals scattered about.

“I should get her to clean her room after this.” Gladio remarked, looking at the plushes scattered about haphazardly.

“She really likes bears, huh?” Crowe chuckled, “And pink.”

“It’s her favorite color.” Gladio replied, opening his sister’s closet and pulling down a large, fluffy blanket from a shelf and handing it to Crowe.

Gladio grabbed one more large, plush blanket before shutting the door back and grabbing a pillow and a few stuffed toys before they made their way back down and into the yard. The sweet smell of baking was already permeating throughout the house, vanilla and strawberries scenting the air. The clattering of a metal bowl and something wooden rang out from the kitchen, along with Nyx’s disembodied voice.

“At least we were already done with those, huh Iris?”

Crowe opened the back door for Gladio and the two walked outside, setting up the tent. He laid the fluffy blanket on the bottom of the whole tent, creating a more soft floor, and tossed the pillow and plushes in a corner as he turned around on hands and knees to face Crowe who had an eyebrow cocked.

“C’mon, it’s to make it easier to relax.” Gladio said defensively, taking the blanket Crowe offered and folding it in half to form a sort of bed and cover duo. “She’s gonna love it.”

As Crowe crawled in after him to help set up the their sleeping bags Gladio sighed.

“Thanks for coming over.” he said softly, smoothing out the wrinkles in Iris’ blanket.

“What else are we here for, big guy?” Crowe responded, smiling. “Besides, I love being a dragon.”

The rest of the day went smoothly, cupcakes turning out perfectly, dinner being made for the four of them, a silly movie about a green creature saving a cursed princess with a talking animal sidekick, and so much more. Eventually the day started to wind down and the four stepped outside into the cool air, Iris looking up sadly.

“I wish we could see the stars.” she said, staring at the glowing Wall that hovered above them.

“I have one more surprise.” Nyx said, taking something folded out of his back pocket.

Unfolding it, Nyx revealed a map of constellations, shining a flashlight on it and showing Iris, who gaped.

“Is that what they look like?” she questioned with wide-eyed wonder.

“That is,” he nodded, “and I can put it up on the top of the tent, see?”

Nyx motioned to the four corners, which had little hooks in them that could attach to the roof of the fabric. They all crawled in and Gladio tucked Iris into her blanket as Nyx pinned the map to the ceiling.

“They look so pretty!” Iris said quietly, staring at the random spots on the paper.

“You see those stars there?” Gladio asked, pointing to a cluster and continuing on as she nodded, “That’s Bahamut holding his sword, and that one there?” Gladio pointed to another cluster, “That one is the Infernian, shooting his fire at the other Astrals.”

“They’re fighting?” Iris asked, grabbing her stuffed animals and yawning.

“The gods painted it in the sky, so that it wouldn’t be forgotten.” Gladio answered, kissing his little sister on the forehead. “G’night, Iris.”

Another long yawn, “Night, Gladdy.”

Before long, Iris was snuggled up to her animals with her breathing becoming even in sleep. Crowe, Nyx, and Gladio lay on their sides, With each reclining back in their own way to stay comfortable.

“Iris can cook pretty well for a kid.” Nyx admitted.

“She helps Jared whenever she can.” Gladio laughed.

“And she’s pretty brave in the face of Dragons.” Crowe tacked on, snorting.

The three chatted for a few hours, staring up at the picture of the stars before each drifted off to sleep.

Early the next morning Clarus had come home to find the four sleeping soundly in the tent and he smiled.


End file.
